Mary Hannigantalks to the 21-year-old Celtic winger

He's impeccably polite, so quietly spoken it can be a struggle to catch his words, but you get the feeling from Aiden McGeady that if the issue of him declaring for the Republic of Ireland, rather than Scotland, the country of his birth, raises its head once more, he'll detonate.

Although, such is his nature, it's more likely that he'll sigh, heavily.

He has, after all, now won 11 international caps, Brian Kerr giving him his senior debut back in 2004 against Jamaica in London, and before that there was the string of youth appearances for Ireland, from the age of 15 up.

You would imagine, then, that the issue would have been long since laid to rest. Not so. It's barely a fortnight since it was raised again across the Scottish press, only this time there was general sympathy for McGeady following his comments that he was subjected to dog's abuse at away grounds, notably those of Rangers and Hearts. He didn't, though, he insists, suggest sectarianism was at the root of the abuse, but that's generally how it was reported.

"There are grounds like Ibrox and Tynecastle where you get every insult under the sun, but it's a decision (to declare for Ireland) I chose to make. I've stood by it, but I get a lot of stick as well. There are still grounds I go to where, when the ball goes out for a throw-in and I go to pick it up, sometimes I feel like putting my hands over my ears with some of the stick. But that's what happens," he said at the time.

A fortnight on, on the eve of the Euro 2008 qualifying games against Slovakia and the Czech Republic, his frustration at the whole business is apparent. "I don't want to start talking about it again because it came out in the press that there was an outcry and I felt I was being targeted - that is not the case at all.

"I do seem to get more stick than other players, but that's fair enough. The fans pay their money and can say what they want. It goes in one ear and out the other. You come to deal with it and come to terms with it and it is not a big deal anymore. It motivates me. It shows that if they are booing you they rate you and value you as a player."

There is, too, a slight world weariness to the 21-year-old's response to questions about his standing with club and country, about what is his best position, whether or not he is now ready to nail down a place in the starting line-up for both.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has, at times, been sparing in his praise of McGeady, suggesting publicly, for example, that he had "frozen" on the big stage against Manchester United in the Champions League last year. And when asked last week if McGeady's performance in the 4-0 win in Denmark was his best for Ireland, Steve Staunton said, somewhat pointedly, "Some of it was." But, while implying that his crossing could do with improvement, he added that McGeady's "touch and control, his ability to beat people, were second to none".

It seems he has yet to convince his club and international managers that he is the finished article - but what 21-year-old, he's entitled to ask, is?

"There is always someone saying he should be doing this or doing that, so every season has always been the same for me, they're all big ones," he says, when asked if he saw 2007-2008 as a particularly important one in his development.

"I feel pretty confident at the minute. I feel as if I am playing some decent football so I want to bring my form with Celtic into the international scene. There is an opportunity to do that now, to become a regular starter for Ireland, definitely, especially when Duffer is out injured. It's up to me to take my chance when I get it."

He is hopeful that his display in Denmark will persuade Staunton that he has earned a place in the starting line-ups for the games against the Slovaks and Czechs.

"Hopefully I did myself justice. I have never really had a run in the first team and only started a few games, so I'm looking to get a run now. It was great to be left on and play the full 90 minutes," he said.

Andy Reid, Stephen Hunt, Kevin Kilbane and, if switched from the centre, Stephen Ireland do, however, provide Staunton with wide alternatives to McGeady for the games in Bratislava and Prague, so he's far from certain to start in one or both games.

He hopes, though, that his flexibility will increase his chances. "I've been playing on the left for Celtic this season, but the manager at Celtic wants me to drift inside a lot more. With Ireland Stan likes me to play as an orthodox winger, stay on the touchline, get balls into the box."

He awaits the call-up, then, for the game in Slovakia, but would greatly appreciate if he wasn't reminded of his last visit to the city: Artmedia Bratislava 5 Celtic 0. Things, as they say, surely, can only get better?